Game board



Feb. 4, 1941. G wENNEls 2,230,874

INVENTORr morge Wnnei/.s

ATTORNEY.

Patented Feb. 4, 1941 UNITED STATES Meur OFFICE 1y Claim.

\ 5 of this invention, in spite of, or perhaps on account of, great simplicity, 1s to develop and allow a measure of skill, steadiness and precision and is to provide a scale of measurement of such faculties.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a game board suited for sliding discs thereon, and to provide upon said boards certain fixed aims for the slid discs, such as clearances, openings or pockets.

"I5 A plurality of openings for receiving the slid discs being provided for, such openings may be marked and may preferably be rated, and suitable compartments may be provided for, in which the discs slid through each opening are collected in a respective compartment.

It is another object of this invention to offset the space behind the openings, and/ or said compartments, in a suitable manner relatively to the game board proper, so that it can be readily determined whether or not a disc has entered upon and passed through an opening, in the manner desired.

It is another object of this invention to arrange a game board in such a manner, that it may be readily dismantled or collapsed for transportation or storage. y

A further object of this invention provides for suitable confining means of the game board, and takes measures serving to provide a uniform and equalized rebound of the slid discs, from the various dividing and conning walls of the board.

Another object of this invention provides for an arrangement of the conning rails in such manner, that they do not disaccommodate the player.

This invention further provides for means facilitating the return of discs, with which the operator has played, to the starting point, thus facilitating the collection of the discs at said point.

An example of this invention is set forth in the accompanying drawing, and is described in the following text. Such detailed description is however not to be interpreted in a limiting, but merely in an illustrating sense, and other objects of the instant invention will be brought forth and made clear by way of the following description.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan View of the ends of a board of `this invention, showing some of the discs to be used thereon. In this figure are also identified, by dot-dash lines and by the corresponding numerals, the sections along which the other gures are shown in whole or in part.

Fig. 2 is a corresponding, partly sectioned front View.

Fig. 3 is. a corresponding cross-section seen from the side. l0 Similar numerals refer to similar parts through the various views.

Upon the smoothly polished board II, are shown several discs, which may be substantially dened as spherical segments, because they are preferably provided with crowned rims. This arrangement is made in order to have the discs rebound from the conning walls or partitions at a predetermined height above the board surface, and also in order to prevent the discs from stand- 20 ing or remaining on edge. In order to accomplish the latter purpose, the radii of curvature of -the crowned rims of the discs are preferably less than half the diameters of the discs.

The board II should be surrounded, at least` upon three sides, by rails. Thus the drawing shows the side rails I3 and one end rail I4 arising from the board. At the front of the board, where the player is ordinarily positioned, the height of the side rail I3 is preferably reduced to a necessary minimum, as indicated at I5, in

lab

lorder to provide as little interference as possible for the player, when the discs are slid away from such end of the board by manipulation.

Near the farend of the board II, i. e. near the end rail I4, arises a partition IS, which separates the rear part 23 of the board II from the front part 22 thereof, except for certain clearance cuts, which extends into said partition from the bottom up, as indicated, for instance, at I, 2, 3 and 40 4. These recesses represent the clearances,

openings or pockets, mentioned rst above, and

are preferably dimensioned to clear the diameter and height of the discs I2.

The recesses 3, 2, I and 4 may be evenly spaced apart as indicated in the drawing, and to each one of the recesses may correspond a compartment I9, I8, I1 or 20, on the rear 23 of the board II, such compartments being provided, for instance, by uprights or Walls 2| on the rear part 23 of the game board I I, such Walls extending to the front from the rail I4 and being spaced between the recesses 3 and 2, 2 and I, and I and4 respectively. I have, however, found, that pref- 55 erably the walls 2| do not extend into abutment with the partition I6, but should extend short thereof, so that walls 2| may not unduly aiect the resilience oiered by the partition I6 to discs I2 slid thereagainst, or may not aifect the normal position of said cross partition I6, if they Warp.

I nd it of advantage to arrange the back 23 of the board II, i. e. behind the partition I6, below the level 22 of the front of the board II. This prevents discs, which once have passed the partition I6, to bounce back into the front range 22, and at the same time this arrangement is very convenient for determining, Whether or'not a disc has passed through one or the other of the openings 3, 2, I or 4.

The object of such an arrangement at' different levels may be obtained by resting the board 22 on top of the board 23, e. g. by way of a spacer 24, if so preferred and as shown. The new bottom level 23 thus produced in the rear of the game board may Ibe continued to the front by runners 25, extending for instance on both sides underneath the board and serving for reinforcement of the board, in addition to leveling the bottom thereof.

Where the boards 22 and 23 rest on top of each other by way of the spacer 24, they may" be interconnected by dowels 26. These dowels 26 are preferably spaced in such a manner, that they extend up into the board I6, for instance into the tongues 2l, 28 and 29, which separate the recesses 3 and 2, 2 and I and I and 4 from each other. In addition, notch-es 36 may be provided in side rails I3, into which ts the partition I5, and is for instance retained by screws 3l, so that the cross-partition I 5 depends onto the board, may be readily removed, for purposes of transportation. or storage of the board for instance,

A game may be played on a board vention, for example as follows:

The game board is arranged in level position. for instance upon a table, and the player assumes a playing position near the front end of the game board, wherediscs, said 24 discs, are accumulated and are successively slid by the player to the back of the board with the object of passing these discs through the clearances 3, 2, I and 4 in the cross-partition I6. A variety of scoring may be applied to discs passed into the compartment I9, I8, II and 20, for instance on a basis of the values 3, 2, I and 4 prominently marked in Fig. 2 on vthe cross-partition on top of the clearances or recesses 3, 2, I and 4. Multiples of such values may be accredited to the of this inplayer on` the basis of a predetermined distribution of discs in the various compartments I'I, I8, I 9 and 20, for instance where at least one or more discs has been slid into every compartment, or where a large number of discs have been slid into one compartment only.

The front board 22 preferably extends right through the cross-partition I6, so that the back edge of said board 22 is in alignment with the back surface of the cross-partition I 6. This facilitates determining whether or not the discs have 1 passed through one of the recesses, because a disc assumes a tilted position as soon as more than half thereof has slipped 01T the front board 22. However, the drop from the front board 22 to back board 23 is preferably not so high that the disc slides by its own weight olf the front board 22 unto the rear board 23, because it is desirable, that all force propelling a disc from the front to the back of the board be applied by the player. For that reason it is desirable, that the drop from the front board to the back board be less than the diameter but preferably more than the thickness of a disc. Thus it is also prevented, that a disc, which once has entered upon one of the compartments Il, I8, I9 or 20, be bounced back onto the front board 22.

Once a player has slid all the discs assigned to him and his score has been taken, the discs may be slid or rolled back from the rear of the board 22 to the front thereof, for the use of the next player, and the next player may avail himself o f an apron 30, which is swingably arranged at the front of the game board; that apron serves as a false rail when swung up and is preferably made of a limp material in order to prevent rebounding of discs slid thereagainst. 'Ihe apron 30 serving as removable front rail may for instance be made of rubber sheeting and may be clamped by suitable cross-pieces 3| underneath the front end of the game board II as shown in the drawing. The free end of apron 3D may be reinforced by a cross-brace 32 applied to the back thereof and upon such cross-brace 32 may be mounted one or more handles 33, which facilitate manipulation of the apron by the player.

Having thus described my invention in detail, I do not wish to be limited thereby, except as the state of the art and the appended claim may require, for it is obvious that various modications and changes may be made in the form of embodiment of any invention, without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

What I claim is:

A game board of the kind described comprising a board having a higher level at the front f end, a lower level at the rear end, a back rail and side rails extending from the front to the rear of the board, a cross-partition having a clearance opening for a disc to be slid from the front to the back on said board and removably mountedf vupon and depending from the side rails onto the board between said levels, and a flexible apron at the front of the board normally depending from the board but adapted to be lifted into va rail position.

GEORGE WENNEIS. 

